Flashing the perky smile familiar from Beijing, Johnson posed with convention staff and assorted on-lookers. After about 10 minutes, it looked like she was done. But a team of security officers couldn’t resist. They jumped up, too, and put their arms around each other in a semi-circle, with the petite gymnast in the middle, smiling.

Police Report: ‘Even the Rioters’ Are Behaving

Lakewood Police Agent Jake Bowden had one word for his convention experience:

“Painful.”

The five-year veteran, from a mountain town just west of Denver, pulled 15-hour days all week. And while some of his buddies got to meet the Clintons and Obamas, Bowden was working security outside the media pavilions.

All the standing has put Bowden in a world of lower back pain, leading him to joke that he’ll be spending his overtime pay – he expects his check for this week to be triple his normal take-home – on medical care.

But despite his frustrations, Bowden said it’s been a good week, mostly because it could have been a lot worse. “I thought people would be a little more grumpy because of the heat,” he said. “But everyone’s behaved themselves. Even the rioters.”

Just then, one of his fellow officers – resting in the shade of a tunnel under Invesco Field—looked through an open gate at the stadium’s giant TV screens. “Hey!” he called. “Is that Al Gore?”

Sure enough, it was the former vice president, larger than life on the jumbo-tron as he performed mic checks on the podium. Bowden looked interested for a moment. Then he went back to sipping his energy drink, hydrating for the long day ahead.

Tickets Are Free; Nearby Parking Is $80

The hucksters were out in full force a full 10 hours before Sen. Barack Obama is expected to take the stage in Invesco Field at Mile High.

On Federal Boulevard, which runs along the outside of the stadium, entrepreneurs were setting sandwich-board signs outside fast-food restaurants, gas stations and strip malls.

They read: “Event Parking: $80.”

A few blocks farther, the price was cheaper – but not by much. Most lots were charging $50, a few $40.

The high prices dampened the spirits, just a bit, of a group of letter carriers coming to the speech to represent their union. They said it seemed to run a bit counter to the open-it-up-to-the-common-man spirit in which Obama had announced his speech at the football stadium.

But they didn’t stay glum for long. Familiar with the neighborhoods from Denver Broncos game, they found a spot on the street for free and trudged a mile or so to the entrance, arriving a full two hours before doors opened to the public.

It would be a long wait. They didn’t care.

“It’s so exciting just to walk into the national convention we have for letter carriers every two years. Compare that to something this big. This is huge!” said Patti Heinz, 55, who was decked out in a denim jumper covered with Democratic buttons.

Her friend Henry Arguello compared his butterflies of excitement to the thrill he felt when Pope John Paul II came to Denver in 1993. “The anticipation… the people… the crowds….the excitement,” said Arguello, 40 years old. “It’s momentous. I can’t believe we have it here.”

Arguello said he was well aware that Republicans would try to paint the stadium event as a symbol that Obama is more rock-star celebrity than substantive politician. He strongly disagreed.

“If you have that much support, it’s a good thing,” he said. “Let’s get it on!”

Volunteering Is the Ticket

High-school student Chantelle Welp, 17, earned a ticket to the event by putting in 30 to 40 hours a week volunteering for the Obama campaign in her hometown of Greeley, Colo. (She said she’d grown skilled at finishing her statistics homework while stuffing envelopes and calling voters.)

She got into the stadium early with her volunteer badge and ventured onto the field in oversized sunglasses. As the rock band on stage ran through a rehearsal in the bright sunshine, she began dancing and whooping it up.

Her parents, she said, were John McCain fans, so they weren’t too thrilled with all the T-shirts and bumper stickers she’s hung around her room. “They’re not digging it,” she said. But she was: “This is the coolest thing ever,” Welp said.

Her comrade-in-volunteering, Kate Ehrman, 17, said she was most looking forward to hearing Mr. Obama’s new theme song, “Yes, We Can.”

“It just gives you goose bumps every time,” she said. “I’m completely elated. This is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life.”

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.